Your home is your sanctuary, which is why it’s so important to keep it clean, organized, relaxing, and safe. It’s the place you start and end each and every day. That being said, there are specific decorations you can use that will enhance your mental wellness, so it’s important to incorporate those ways into your home. That way, not only will your home be a place to go to after a long day at work, but it will be a comfortable and cozy space that will benefit your mental health.
Maximize Natural Light
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By keeping windows unobstructed, you can quickly maximize natural light. When there’s more natural light in your home, your mood will improve, your sleep cycle will be enhanced by regulating your circadian rhythm, and your body will naturally produce a more substantial amount of Vitamin D from sunlight exposure. If you can’t spend much time outdoors for natural light, the next best option is to keep your windows unobstructed.
Soft LED Lighting
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Creating a warm space with a cozy atmosphere is essential for turning your home into a safe, cozy sanctuary. Soft LED lighting helps you feel more peaceful by reducing anxiety and stress. Different light colors can evoke different moods. Blues evoke a sense of calm, while pink evokes a sense of love and compassion.
Dimmable Lights
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One benefit of dimmable lights is that you can adjust them to fit your mood. For example, you can quickly turn them up for a brighter atmosphere or turn them down for warmth and dimness if you want a cozier, more relaxing atmosphere. By creating a calmer atmosphere, dimmable lights promote relaxation, reduce stress, and help social interactions.
Himalayan Salt Lamps
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Himalayan salt lamps have numerous mood and health benefits, so they’re a great addition to your home. They create a warm glow and calming effect that cleans the air, helps you sleep, and soothes allergies. Place them in your bedroom to create a soft and cozy atmosphere that helps you calm down before you sleep.
Use Soft Blues and Greens
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For a calming effect in your bedroom, choose soft blues and greens for your paint, bed, and decorations. These colors are associated with the outdoors and nature and help reduce stress and anxiety by promoting calmness and tranquility. On the other hand, colors like red and orange often provoke a feeling of energy, so avoid those colors if you want to enhance calmness in your sanctuary.
Use Cheerful Yellows and Oranges
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If you want a more energizing, playful room, decorate it with cheerful yellows and oranges. These colors work well for energy in social areas, like your kitchen and living room. Using these colors in common areas is better than in your bedroom, where it’s better to use softer colors. Yellows and oranges will help promote happiness and excitement, which is what you want in social areas.
Opt for Earthy Tones
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You’ll create a grounding and relaxing atmosphere by incorporating earthy tones like browns, terracottas, and greens. These colors connect you to nature and help promote feelings of stability, security, and well-being—the same feelings you’d get if you were hiking through the forest. To add to the aesthetic, you can incorporate different textures, like plush cushions and wooden coffee tables and chairs.
Avoid Overly Dark or Bold Colors
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Avoiding overly dark and bold colors in small spaces will help prevent a heavy atmosphere that will make your space feel claustrophobic and enclosed. Dark colors will shrink your space and make the overall atmosphere feel heavy, creating a more visually chaotic environment that will negatively impact your mood. It’s better to use dark and bold colors as accents instead of as the sole decoration.
Add a Soothing Accent Wall
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Add soothing wallpaper or a mural, like a gallery wall, to create a sense of calm and serotonin-inducing feelings. Incorporate natural elements, like wood and paintings of trees. Also, incorporate other colors, like lavender and blue, to create a moody, dramatic atmosphere that will tie your cozy sanctuary together. You’ll want to add this accent wall behind your headboard in your bedroom to act as a focal point.
Introduce Indoor Plants
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Specific indoor plants, like peace lilies, snake plants, or lavender, help evoke a sense of calm and induce air purification and relaxation. Place these around your living room and bedroom. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of plants, as long as you have the time to care for them and water them! Indoor plants will also reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, and help improve your mood by directly connecting you to nature.
Use Dried Flowers
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Dried flowers or eucalyptus in vases create a subtle, natural fragrance. These fragrances are naturally calming and help reduce stress levels as you breathe them in. Use natural green or blue flowers to evoke a sense of calm. Lavender is another flower that will naturally reduce stress levels and improve mood.
Create a Small Indoor Herb Garden
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Not only is growing your food good for your physical health and the environment, but it’s also good for your mental health. These herb gardens will reduce stress and promote well-being by giving you a hands-on project. You can watch your hard work grow into delectable herbs right before your eyes!
Decorate with Wooden Furniture
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Bring the natural world into your home by decorating with wooden furniture to add warmth and grounding. Wood’s organic texture will help charm a room, connecting you to nature. Wooden furniture creates a timeless aesthetic, mainly when you use maple, oak, walnut, and ash.
Incorporate Stone, Bamboo, or Rattan
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Add stone, bamboo, or rattan decor to your living areas for a natural, organic aesthetic. These natural elements will enhance mood, reduce stress, and promote well-being. Even small amounts of natural elements can help lower blood pressure and evoke a sense of safety and calm. These elements are easy to find and incorporate, even in small amounts. You can add them through furniture like coffee tables and bookshelves.
Declutter Often
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It’s always a good idea to stay on top of your clutter. Decluttering your home is a great way to clear the space for your mental health. There’s a reason they say, “less is more!” This also helps reduce dust, mold, and mildew. It reduces stress and creates an uplifting environment that’s more exciting and enjoyable to be around. Even just looking at a cluttered space evokes stress and anxiety, so think about how calming it is to be around a clutter-free space
Use Hidden Storage Solutions
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Use multi-functional furniture and hidden wall compartments to keep spaces neat and calming. This will keep your items out of sight, which will help promote a sense of calm. The less clutter there is, the better. You can also keep these compartments organized to help reduce stress. This also includes the cabinets in your kitchen and the clothes in your closet.
Invest in Wicker Decorative Baskets
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You can organize your home by incorporating wicker decorative baskets and organizers to maintain order. By doing this, you’re adding decoration to your home while keeping your space clean and clutter-free. You can fill these baskets with tiny trinkets, books, coins, keys, and other things that typically find their way onto your tables.
Layer Soft Throws and Pillows
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By layering soft throws and pillows on sofas and chairs, you’re creating a sense of calm, relaxation, and comfort that’s also organized. Instead of tossing pillows and blankets over your couch, which will seem unorganized and messy, layering pillows and throws will keep your space organized yet inviting. Use large, soft, patterned blankets and plush pillows for depth and comfort.
Use Natural Fabric Bedding
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Quality sleep is one of the most important ways to maintain good mental health and stay calm. It also lowers blood pressure. One of the best ways to achieve a deep, restful sleep is to use natural fabric bedding like linen or cotton. For added comfort, use large, plush duvets and pillows. There’s nothing better than leaping into your comfortable bed at the end of the day.
Add Plush Area Rugs
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Add large, plush area rugs to soften floors and provide warmth. This will create a soft feel underneath your feet that evokes a sense of comfort and safety. If you’re a barefoot lover, then this is perfect for you. Not only will it make your home feel more stylish and inviting, but it will also enhance its aesthetic.
Invest in Large Blackout Curtains
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To enhance sleep quality and achieve a more restful sleep, invest in blackout curtains. These will block out any excess light coming from the outside that may disrupt your sleep. They are convenient during the full moon. If you live near a busy street or one lit with many lamps, blackout curtains will also help keep out light, which will help regulate your circadian rhythm.
Display Uplifting and Meaningful Artwork
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You can display your morning affirmations or quotes as artwork. This fun weekend DIY project will also enhance your mental well-being. Every time you read your affirmations, you mentally remind yourself of this positivity, thus improving your mood. Surround it with other uplifting artwork to further enhance your mood.
Curate a Gallery Wall with Personal Photos and Positive Memories
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Beyond the affirmations, curate a gallery wall full of your favorite memories and photographs. You can use photos from your past travels, photos of your friends and family, and photos of your pets. Display these around using a variety of gold and silver frames for a fun, playful, personal decoration.
Create a Vision Board
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There’s no better way to see your goals and inspirations than by creating a vision board that captures everything you wish to have. Grab a blank canvas and a few magazines, and start cutting out images and words that inspire you. If you want to travel, you can include images of maps and other countries. You can include photos of homecooked meals if you want to cook more food. There’s no limit to creativity here! Every time you look at your vision board, it’ll help remind you to stick to your goals.
Use Essential Oil Diffusers
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Certain smells, like lavender, citrus, or peppermint scents, help evoke a sense of calm and well-being. Putting these in your bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom gives you the scent of calm and relaxation wherever you go. These can also impact emotions and mood and promote feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin.
Light Beeswax or Soy Candles
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Use beeswax or soy candles from organic ingredients to promote mental and physical health. Also, use candles with relaxing fragrances like lavender or citrus. These burn cleanly and emit minimal toxins. These candles also help eliminate negative ions in the air, which can also help promote mental well-being.
Play Soft Background Music
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There’s a reason humans feel completely relaxed when they’re out in nature. Think about all those times you’ve been in the middle of the forest, completely free from the stressors of daily life. How relaxed were you? Probably very relaxed! You can induce nature sounds for relaxation by playing background music of running water, birds chirping, or the ocean waves lapping the shore. These sounds can reduce anxiety and blood pressure, reduce stress, and ultimately improve your overall mood.
Add a Small Indoor Water Fountain
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Water induces deeper concentration and helps improve cognitive function. It also acts as a soothing white noise that drowns out outside sounds that may disrupt relaxation, like traffic and other bothersome noises. This is an excellent addition if you live near a busy street or in a busy city.
Design a Dedicated Reading Nook
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There’s no better way to induce relaxation and calm than reading books! Reading reduces stress, improves your vocabulary bank, and helps improve your sleep by calming your body and mind before bed. Create a comfortable nook in your home for reading with soft, plush, comfortable seating, ample, warm lighting, and blankets. Surround it with greenery to evoke even more feelings of calm. There’s no better way to end your day than cuddling up with a good book!
Set Up a Meditation or Yoga Corner
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Science has proven that meditation and yoga can lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and stress, enhance memory and focus, increase self-awareness, and help with gratitude. Create a yoga and meditation corner in your home with large cushions and soft lighting. This is a wonderful place to start and end every day. It will also help improve your sleep and your mental health overall.